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Transmissible and nontransmissible components of anthropometric variation in the Alexanderwohl Mennonites: I. Description and familial correlations
Author(s) -
Devor Eric J.,
McGue Matt,
Crawford Michael H.,
Lin Paul M.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330690109
Subject(s) - anthropometry , demography , variation (astronomy) , evolutionary biology , biology , geography , sociology , physics , archaeology , astrophysics
Data on 34 anthropometric measures from the Alexanderwohl Mennonite congregations of Kansas and Nebraska are presented. A factor analysis of these traits shows that body length and body width measures are distinct from each other as well as from measures of the head and face. Moreover, familial correlations estimated by maximum likelihood for all 34 traits tend to separate from each other along factor lines with correlations for body lengths being the highest and those for skinfolds and circumferences being the lowest. These results suggest the presence of various body “fields” which are under differing degrees of genetic and environmental control. We offer the term “functional multifactorial complex” as a means of referring to the joint genetic and environmental influences on these fields.